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"Nov. 2: Thankful for my extended family who brought so much laughter and wonderful memories. Wish I could see you more." FB Status and Outline Point #2.
As an only child, I loved my extended family with all the cousins. It gave me a chance to be around kids, not just adults. I have such wonderful memories of family holidays and get togethers on both sides of my family. My aunts and uncles were so much fun, my cousins served as the siblings I didn't have, and the best part was we got to go to our separate homes to avoid the sibling bickering! But cousins could bicker, too...
My mom had two sisters who each had one child. Yep. Three only children. Isn't that a hoot! My cousin, Tony, is two years older than I and Stephanie is 7 years younger. I think we all were jealous over "Nanny and PawPaw," but we managed not to kill each other. I loved going to my grandparents' house, especially when food was involved. I remember my mom, her sisters, and my Nanny all cooking in that small kitchen. Every year at every holiday we managed to burn the bread. Every stinkin' time! One time, my aunt put Stephanie in front of the stove and told her to watch the bread. It still burned. Poor thing, I think she thought that was the way bread was supposed to be on holidays! Any other time, my Nanny made the best biscuits, and they usually were whop biscuits. I think it was the unhealthy bacon drippings she put on the top. It usually is unhealthy if it tastes too good. We cousins would save the biscuits for snacks all day long; they were even better cold!
My dad's side of the family is a different story. My dad had two brothers and two sisters. Actually, he had a third sister but she died as a baby before he was born. Her name was Mary Francis. People always said I looked like her and it would freak me out! Imagine as a kid being told you looked like your dead aunt! I think it was the hair. My dad had red hair, I had red hair, and apparently Mary Francis had red hair. Some younger third cousins came out with red hair at some point, but that was it. I don't know if they were ever told that they looked like their dead great great aunt...
So, my dad's family, the Princes. His siblings all had several children, not just one like my mom's sisters. I was the next to youngest grandchild, and there were great grandchildren older than I. My grandfather died before my parents met. My grandmother was the matriarch, and she was something! She died at 103. Her hair still was not all gray and her mind was sharp as a tack. For her 100th birthday, the family planned a surprise party. I questioned the wisdom of a surprise party for our grandmother who was turning 100 until they told me she had actually planned it and wanted us to carry it out. That was my grandma!
My grandma was a character. She tried to plant a rose bush using a pick-ax and dug a hole in her sewage line. She was 94. My uncle had to hide the lawn mower and gardening tools after that. She loved practical jokes, even when they nearly got her killed or her house destroyed, like when she threw a piece of black rubber hose on my dad and yelled, "Snake!" My dad, who was deathly afraid of snakes, was a big man and almost tore down her kitchen trying to get out. Grandma just laughed as she picked up her overturned table and chairs and cleaned the food from the ceiling.
When my dad was dying with cancer, I saw how a mother's heart never changes. My dad was 65 and my grandma was 99. I saw her long to cradle him in her lap and "make it all better" as we mom's want to do. Then, on the way to his funeral, I slammed my grandma's hand in the door of the family limo. Yep, you read it right...I SLAMMED MY 99 YEAR OLD GRANDMA'S HAND IN THE DOOR OF THE FAMILY LIMO ON THE WAY TO MY DAD'S FUNERAL! When we got to the funeral and were seated in the family section, we asked for a Band Aid. "Who needs a Band Aid?" "Grandma." "Why does Grandma need a Band Aid?" "Because Julie slammed her hand in the car door." "Julie!" "It was an accident! I swear!" Bro. Wesley, the minister and only one who could see the commotion, just stared at us. However, he had been around the family enough to know and later he chuckled with the rest of us. I know my dad had to have been laughing! At the meal after the funeral, I apologized to my grandma once again. I really felt terrible. She patted me on the arm and said, "Oh, it's all right. I've decided not to sue you." That was my grandma! It's a good thing I don't believe in reincarnation because there isn't enough good karma in the world to get me above a dung beetle after that.
Grandma Prince lived alone until a few months before she died, and then she had lived with my aunt. My mom called one night and said that my aunt and uncle had to use the wheelchair to help my grandma in bed. I said, "She'll die soon." Sure enough, she died the next morning. My mom asked how I knew, and I said that I knew my grandma and as soon as she could not get around herself, she'd say, "I'm done!"
My cousins Melanie and Marcia were like my sisters. We were close in age and our parents were together almost every weekend playing a card game called Pitch. Marcia was only 3 years older than I, and most of the time we terrorized Melanie, who was the older of the two. I remember Melanie trying to watch Lawrence Welk (only 3 channels, remember) or a beauty pageant if she were lucky, and Marcia and I would be running around the house with towels tied around our necks playing Batman and Robin. I think I was Robin. Melanie taught us both the value of drinking dill pickle juice.
And then there was David. David is only about 5 months older than I am, and we were like peas and carrots as Forrest Gump would say. I remember their house burned right before Christmas when we were kids, so at the family Christmas party, the family was helping them replace what they needed via presents. David and I must have been younger than 7, and most kids that age do not fully appreciate the gift of clothes at Christmas. David's face must have shown his complete displeasure with his gifts because my aunt took him to another room where he met Jesus. The meeting with Jesus must have given him a change of heart because with the next present he stated with an emotionless face and in a matter of fact tone, "Just what I always wanted...a pair of pajamas."
David, I say that every Christmas in honor of you.
As an only child, I loved my extended family with all the cousins. It gave me a chance to be around kids, not just adults. I have such wonderful memories of family holidays and get togethers on both sides of my family. My aunts and uncles were so much fun, my cousins served as the siblings I didn't have, and the best part was we got to go to our separate homes to avoid the sibling bickering! But cousins could bicker, too...
My mom had two sisters who each had one child. Yep. Three only children. Isn't that a hoot! My cousin, Tony, is two years older than I and Stephanie is 7 years younger. I think we all were jealous over "Nanny and PawPaw," but we managed not to kill each other. I loved going to my grandparents' house, especially when food was involved. I remember my mom, her sisters, and my Nanny all cooking in that small kitchen. Every year at every holiday we managed to burn the bread. Every stinkin' time! One time, my aunt put Stephanie in front of the stove and told her to watch the bread. It still burned. Poor thing, I think she thought that was the way bread was supposed to be on holidays! Any other time, my Nanny made the best biscuits, and they usually were whop biscuits. I think it was the unhealthy bacon drippings she put on the top. It usually is unhealthy if it tastes too good. We cousins would save the biscuits for snacks all day long; they were even better cold!
My dad's side of the family is a different story. My dad had two brothers and two sisters. Actually, he had a third sister but she died as a baby before he was born. Her name was Mary Francis. People always said I looked like her and it would freak me out! Imagine as a kid being told you looked like your dead aunt! I think it was the hair. My dad had red hair, I had red hair, and apparently Mary Francis had red hair. Some younger third cousins came out with red hair at some point, but that was it. I don't know if they were ever told that they looked like their dead great great aunt...
So, my dad's family, the Princes. His siblings all had several children, not just one like my mom's sisters. I was the next to youngest grandchild, and there were great grandchildren older than I. My grandfather died before my parents met. My grandmother was the matriarch, and she was something! She died at 103. Her hair still was not all gray and her mind was sharp as a tack. For her 100th birthday, the family planned a surprise party. I questioned the wisdom of a surprise party for our grandmother who was turning 100 until they told me she had actually planned it and wanted us to carry it out. That was my grandma!
My grandma was a character. She tried to plant a rose bush using a pick-ax and dug a hole in her sewage line. She was 94. My uncle had to hide the lawn mower and gardening tools after that. She loved practical jokes, even when they nearly got her killed or her house destroyed, like when she threw a piece of black rubber hose on my dad and yelled, "Snake!" My dad, who was deathly afraid of snakes, was a big man and almost tore down her kitchen trying to get out. Grandma just laughed as she picked up her overturned table and chairs and cleaned the food from the ceiling.
When my dad was dying with cancer, I saw how a mother's heart never changes. My dad was 65 and my grandma was 99. I saw her long to cradle him in her lap and "make it all better" as we mom's want to do. Then, on the way to his funeral, I slammed my grandma's hand in the door of the family limo. Yep, you read it right...I SLAMMED MY 99 YEAR OLD GRANDMA'S HAND IN THE DOOR OF THE FAMILY LIMO ON THE WAY TO MY DAD'S FUNERAL! When we got to the funeral and were seated in the family section, we asked for a Band Aid. "Who needs a Band Aid?" "Grandma." "Why does Grandma need a Band Aid?" "Because Julie slammed her hand in the car door." "Julie!" "It was an accident! I swear!" Bro. Wesley, the minister and only one who could see the commotion, just stared at us. However, he had been around the family enough to know and later he chuckled with the rest of us. I know my dad had to have been laughing! At the meal after the funeral, I apologized to my grandma once again. I really felt terrible. She patted me on the arm and said, "Oh, it's all right. I've decided not to sue you." That was my grandma! It's a good thing I don't believe in reincarnation because there isn't enough good karma in the world to get me above a dung beetle after that.
Grandma Prince lived alone until a few months before she died, and then she had lived with my aunt. My mom called one night and said that my aunt and uncle had to use the wheelchair to help my grandma in bed. I said, "She'll die soon." Sure enough, she died the next morning. My mom asked how I knew, and I said that I knew my grandma and as soon as she could not get around herself, she'd say, "I'm done!"
My cousins Melanie and Marcia were like my sisters. We were close in age and our parents were together almost every weekend playing a card game called Pitch. Marcia was only 3 years older than I, and most of the time we terrorized Melanie, who was the older of the two. I remember Melanie trying to watch Lawrence Welk (only 3 channels, remember) or a beauty pageant if she were lucky, and Marcia and I would be running around the house with towels tied around our necks playing Batman and Robin. I think I was Robin. Melanie taught us both the value of drinking dill pickle juice.
And then there was David. David is only about 5 months older than I am, and we were like peas and carrots as Forrest Gump would say. I remember their house burned right before Christmas when we were kids, so at the family Christmas party, the family was helping them replace what they needed via presents. David and I must have been younger than 7, and most kids that age do not fully appreciate the gift of clothes at Christmas. David's face must have shown his complete displeasure with his gifts because my aunt took him to another room where he met Jesus. The meeting with Jesus must have given him a change of heart because with the next present he stated with an emotionless face and in a matter of fact tone, "Just what I always wanted...a pair of pajamas."
David, I say that every Christmas in honor of you.
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